Crows scared, job done.

There wasn’t a crow within a five-mile radius of our village this weekend when a motley collection of straw-stuffed scarers moved in and showed them who was boss.

The first ever Calverley Scarecrow Festival caused a stir in the corvus world. They are known for their intelligence, so when they saw the signs in the local newsagent and heard the Tweets they packed their bags and were off to Bradford.

While the crows left, the visitors flocked in, walking through the many ginnels of our little village and hopefully spending their money in our local shops! They saw just short of 30 scarecrows skulking in gardens, churches, the library and even the dog club. Scarecrows included Olympians like Bradley Twiggins and Lunch Box Delight featuring Linford Christie and figures from literature such as 50 Shades of Hay and Gypsy Rose Tea. The winner was a splendid Gruffalo, hiding in full view on Shell Lane.

I hadn’t got my act together in time to put in an official entry, so I just did it anyway. Bob started life as part of a health promotion scheme aimed at encouraging self-examination in men, who we all know are a bit squeamish about medical matters relating to their manhood. So in celebration of the gold medals won by the Yorkshire athletes, five when I made them on Friday night and six by Sunday, I stuck him outside to join the other scarecrows. He was quite popular with passers-by and fortunately his fig leaf stayed intact. I predict he’ll return for a future Creative Calverley event.